Department store machine



March 14, 1939. F. L FULLER ET AL 2,150,215

DEPARTMENT S TQRE MACHINE Original Filed Dec. 4, 1935 '7 Sheets-Sheet l A T5 ORNEYS.

March 14, 1939. F, L F LLER ET AL 2,150,215

DEPARTMENT STORE MACHINE Original FiledDeo. 4, 1935 '7 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENgg; N M 444,. BY 7g March 14, 1939. Y F. L. FULLER" E1- L DEPARTMENT STORE MACHINE Original Filed Dec. 4, 1935 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 rum March 14, 1939. F. L. FULLER ET AL 2,150,215

DEPARTMENT STORE MACHINE Original Filed Dec. 4, 1935 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 4 75' El-M 4 I 39 i m law;

W AJNI'ENTOR. 8W W- .4 TTORNEYS.

March 14, 1939. FULLER ET AL 2,150,215

DEPARTMENT S TORE MACHINE 1 Original Filed Dec. 4, 1935 "(Sheets-Sheet 5 IIII/I/III/I/II/I/III. 'III/ I I V EN TOR.

ATTORNEYS.

March 14, 1939. FULLER ET AL DEPARTMENT STORE MACHINE Original Fi led Dec.

4, 1935 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 VrEN TOR. g 44144 A TTORNEYS.

, F. L. FULLER ET A DEPARTMENT STORE MACHINE March 14, 1939.

Original Filed Dec. 4, 1955 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 New? 'ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 14, 1939 j v 2,150,215 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF ICE DEPARTMENT STORE" MACHINE Frederick L. Fuller and George F. Daly, West Orange, N. 1., assignors to International Business. Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York chine for recording sales transactions in large pivotally connected to'the horizontal arms of stores such as department stores. The sales bell crank levers l8 freelypivoted on a shaft 11. transaction is recorded by the machine on a The vertical arms of levers I8 terminate in hori-. sales slip or the like in the form of a printed zontally alined nose portions 18', each in front' record, and is also recorded on a tabulating card of one of ten stop fingers I8. These stop fingers Original application December 4, 1885, Serial No this application October 23, 1938, Serial No. 107,142

ZClain'is.

This case relates to recording machines and is a division of application Serial No. 52,766, filed December 4, 1935.

In particular, the invention deals with a main the form of a punched coded record. The printed sales slip is usually given to the customer, while the punched card is retained in the store and subsequently used to control tabulating mar chines for tabulating the information on the card.

Broadly, the invention in this divisional case relates to the keyboard of a novel, improved, machine for recording data pertaining to the article sold,' to the,clerk making the sale. and to the customer. I

.The main object is to provide a new key-controlled mechanism to enter an item in an itementry receiving means or in differentially operable means, such as item indicating elements,-

type members, punching members, or the like value or item manifesting means. Other objects ing means and sales slip.

Still other objects will appear in the follow- The-disposition of various are to provide novel card eictnovel positioning means for the dicated at the bottom of Fig. 2 by the digital values to which the stems and keys correspond. The lower ends of the key stems are located side by side, in horizontal, transverse alinement, and

are rigidly mounted on a shaft 18 and arranged within the same parallel, spaced, planes as levers 18, as indicated in Fig. 2. The fingers 18 are also rotatively displaced about their shaft 18 in the order indicated in Fig. 4. According y. each finger 18 must move a different distance counterclockwise to reach the nose portion 18' within its plane. I 1

The left end of shaft I8 (as viewed in Fig. 2) rigidly carries a pinion 88 meshed with a wide gear drum 8| freely, rotatably carried by a shaft 82. Meshed with the top of drum 8i are nine. toothed item indicating wheels 83. Each wheel 83 has ten teeth marked on their faces with indicating numerals 0 to 9 to be viewed through a suitable sight opening in the top of casing 48.

Indicating wheels 83 are freely rotatably' wheel 88 into mesh withthe units order slide 30 carriage 88 (see also Fig. "1). The sides of the ing parts of the specification and from the drawcarriage, at their front ends, are forked to slidings, in which: ably receive shaft 85.v At their rear, the carriage Fig. 1 is a plan section through the machine; sides are formed with threaded holes for coac- Figs. 2 to 6 arerespectively sections along lines tion with the threaded portion of a shaft 88. 35 2 to 8 of Fig. 1; Carriage 88 isthus mounted on shafts 88 and- Fig. 6a is a detail of an item wheel on a punch 88 for slidable movement along the shafts to be slidewith the item-wheel in section; advanced by rotation of shaft 88.

Fig. 7 is a section alonglines 1-1 of Fig. 1; Shaft 88 is rotatably journaled between frame Fig. 8 iso section'along lines 8-8 of Fig. 3;" plates i1, 88, and 81. Rotation of shaft 88 40 Fig. 9 is a section along lines 88 of Fig. 1; through coaction of its threaded portion with Fig. 10 is asection along lines ill-48 of Fig. 1'; the threaded apertures of the carriage effects Fig. 11 is a section along lines vi i--i i of Fig.2; movement of the carriage along shafts 8B and Fig. 12 is asection along lines i2--i2 of Fig. 2; 88. As the carriage moves along these shafts, Fig. 13 is'a detail. section taken along lines it slides wheels 88 along shaft 85. I 4.5 i8-=-i8 of Fig. 1. In the initial, home, positions of the parts, the The present invention is directed to the setcarriage is at the .extremeright of its travel '(as tingof nine punch slides; i, e., the amount, viewed in Figs. 1 and 2) and the item wheels 88 transaction, and clerk number punch slides 18a, are entirely clear of' all nine right hand punch t, and c and t e se t of the re dl s type slides Illa, t, and c. Each-step of movement of 50 wheels 43a, Land c under controlof a ten key the carriage tothe left (Fig. '1) will move one keyboard; as will nowbe explained. of wheels 83 out of meshwith drum 8i and into mesh with rack teeth'll of the unit order slide lilc. Thus, the first step of movement of the i There are ten keys l5, onefor each of digits o carriage brings the first wheel 88 from the left to 9, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 These keys are (Figs. 1 and 2) clear of drum 8i and into mesh mounted for vertical movement in the frame (see with teeth" of the right hand or unit order Fig. 4) and their stems are bent transversely, as slide. iilc. The next step brings this first wheel shown in Fig; 2 to place their lower portions in 88 into 'mesh with the second or tens order slide parallel planes, side by side. 18c, and, at the same time, moves the second so. key stems is in-' Ilc. In this manner, successive steps of travel of the carriage mesh the wheels ll successively with the slides Ila, t, and c. At the end of nine steps of transverse movement of carriage 88, all nine wheels 81 will have moved of! drum 0i and into. mesh with the nine slides Ila, t, and c.

The transverse movement of carriage ll is elected under control of keys 15. Each time a.

key II is depressed to enter a value in a wheel 03, it causes a step of movement of carriage ll. Should the keys be depressed nine times to set up the nine wheels, then all nine wheels will be meshed with all nine slides Ila, t, and c. There is one key operation required for the kind of sale and two key settings for the clerk's number. When the price of the article is the maximum six denominational order figure, six key operations are required to set the price. Thus, the maximum possible settings are nine. However, the price may be less than a six order figure, for example, 8.50 in which case only three wheels lla will be set in addition to the setting of the one wheel llt and the two wheels "0, making a total of six settings, so that the last three wheels will remain on drum ll and will not be meshed-with the slides. The other six, ke in mesh with the first six (Fig. 1). The three left hand slides Ila will not be in mesh with any of wheels ll.

The setting of the slides Ila, t, and c is eil'ected by their advance under control of wheels ll meshed therewith, in a manner which will be brought out later. Unless provision were made to the contrary, the slides Ila not meshed with wheels ll would move unimpeded to their 9" positions, resulting in a wrong record of the price being punched and printed. To avoid this error, the slides Ila not in mesh with wheels 03 must be restrained from advancing beyond their 0" positions. For this P pose, the left leg of carriage ll (as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2) is formed at its front end with a depending laterally extending fi ger ll (see also Fig. 13) which lies in front of all nine slides Ila, t, and 0 when the car riage is in the initial, right hand position.

finger 00 when in front of a slide blocks advance of the slide beyond its 0" position. When the carriage moves one step to the left to mesh the first wheel II with the first slide, then finger ll moves away from the front of the first slide. As successive steps of travel of the carriage are effected to successively mesh the wheels ll with the slides Ila, t, and c, the blocking finger is displaced from in front of the successively meshed slides. At the end of nine steps of travel, all nine wheels ll are meshed with these slides II, and finger I0 is completely displaced to one side of the slides.

Pinion ll of shaft I0 and item indicating wheels llarebothinmeshwithgeardrumlLandare of equal diameters so that the pinion and wheels move through equal ares upon rotation of the drum. Indicating wheels II and shaft I0 thus have ten corresponding differential positions. These ten positions of a wheel ll are defined by its indicating teeth 0, 1, 2 9 while the corresponding positions of shaft ll are defined'in the same order by stop fingers 10-0, 1, 2 9.

Referring to Fig. I, shaft 02, on which drum II is rotatably mounted, rigidly carries a pinion l2 (seealsol'lts. 1and2) meshedwithagear ll rotatably mounted on a shaft 04 carried by the frame plates as and u. Rigid with the side of gear llisapinion ll meshed withagear sectorllwhichisfreely1lvotodonastud9'l car- -set, wheels ll will be slides Il from the right .oi'teeth Ill ried by frame plate 86. A spring 98 connected to gear 96 urges the gear sector clockwise (Fig. 7)

Sector 06 has a travel of about 40 and the ratio I of gearing 06, 05, 03, 02, III, and B3 is such that the full stroke movement of sector 96 is capable of producing eleven revolutions of wheels 83, more than sufiicient to move each of the nine indicating wheels 83 through an entire revolution.

Shaft 82 has fixed to it an arm 99 adjacent the side of drum lI. In the initial position of the parts, arm 99 is engaging the free end of a pawl I 00 pivoted to the side of drum 8i and urged by a spring I00 towards arm 99 and into limiting engagement with a pin Ill extending from the side of the drum. When shaft 82 is rotated clockwise, its arm 99 coacts with pawl Ill to rotate drum 8| in the same direction. During the counterclockwise, restoring, revolutions of shaft 82, its arm 09 will withdraw from pawl I00 and at each revolution, the arm will ride. past the pawl, spring I00 yielding to permit the pawl to be cammed aside. Thus, arm 89 and pawl Ill provide a one-way, clockwise, driving connection between shaft 82 and drum 8i. Drum BI is never moved counterclockwise, as will later be brought out, but is moved only clockwise by the aforesaid one-way driving connection, and under control of pinion 00 with whichit is meshed.

Drum 8| cannot move clockwise unless pinion ll and its shaft I9 are free to rotate counterclockwise (Figs. 4 and 11)-. Shaft I9 fixedly carries a disk I 02 (see Figs. 1, 2, and 11) which has ten teeth I03, one of which is normally in engagement with the nose end ill of a bell crank lever I04. Teeth I03 are spaced correspondingly to the spacing of stop fingers I8 about shaft I9. when nose end I04 is engaged with a tooth I 03, shaft I8 cannot rotate counterclockwise and drum II is not free to be rotated clockwise.

Lever I 04 is rotatably carried by shaft 11 and is urged counterclockwise by a spring I05 (Figs. 4 I

and 11) to engage its nose end I04 with a tooth of disk I02. The horizontal arm of lever I04 is bent angularly to provide a transverse lug I06 extending under the left hand arm of a bail I01 freely pivoted on shaft 11.

The cross bar I01 01' the bail underlies the lower edges of the horizontal arms of all ten bell crank levers 16 which are pinned to the ten keys ll (see Fig. 4) Spring I05 acting through lever Ill and its lug Ill-urgu bail bar I01 upwardly to maintain contact with the lower edges of the horizontal arms of levers I0 and in so doing, the spring helps to force keys 15 to their upper positions. The keys are additionally urged to upper positions by springs I08 acting on levers 16.

Riveted to the left side of bail Ill is a plate Ill having two sets of reversely inclined ratchet teeth 0. Each set of teeth III) of the end teeth III of the full stroke toggle pawl III. A spring Ill acting on the pawl holds it set in either clockwise or counterclockwise position.

When any of the ten keys I5 is depressed, it rocks the connected lever I6 clockwise (Fig. 4) which depresses common bail Ill and the toothed member I09 carried by the bail. Once depression of a key is begun, the key cannotrise again until the full down stroke has been completed due to restraining coaction between the lower tooth II I of pawl II! with the lower set of member I09. When a full down stroke of the key is made, then upper shoulder :0 of member I09 strikes projection N5 of pawl 2 and coacts with one rocks the pawl counterclockwise. when 1 clockwise.

means the operator releases pressure on the depressed key,. springs I05 and I08 combine to force the key to its upper position and during restoration of the key, upper tooth III of pawl I I2 engages with the upper set of ratchet teeth IIO of member I09 to prevent depression of the key before it has finished its up stroke. Just before the end of the up stroke ofthe key and of bail I01, the lower shoulder I I4 of member I09 strikes lug II5 of the pawl and causes return of the pawl to initial clockwise position.

At the beginning, all nine item indicating wheels 83 are sitting on top of drum 8|, each wheel at zero position, and correspondingly shaft 19 is at zero position with detent I04 engaging a tooth I03 of disk I02 toprevent rotation of the shaft I9, drum 8|, and wheels 83 under the infiuence of spring 98.

When any of the keys is depressed, it actuates the connected lever I6 to place the nose end I6 finger I8 which is in the same plane. Further, when the lever I6 is actuated, it acts on bar II' to rock bail I0I clockwise (Fig. 4'). The

bail in turn acts on lug I06 of bell crank lever I04 to rock the lever clockwise, opposed by the pull of spring I05. As a result, detent end I04 of lever I04 is released from the teeth of disk I02. There is nothing now to restrain rotation by spring actuator 98 of shaft I9, its pinion 80, drum. 8I, wheels 83, gears 92, 93, 95, and 96. Shaft I9 and the other elements of the above gear train, when released by detent I04, rotate under the influence of spring- 98 until the nose and I6 of the lever I6 connected to the depressed key is engaged by the associated stop finger I8. On the up stroke of the key, connected lever I6 returns in a counterclockwise direction (Fig.4), withdrawing its nose end I6 from the stop finger I8 engaged with the nose end and releasing shaft I9 for a supplementary rotation counter- During the upstroke of the key, spring, I05 also restores lever I04 to replace its detent end in the path of rotation of a tooth I03 of disk I02, thus arresting the supplementary movement of shaft 19. The total of the initial and supplementary movements of shaft I9 displaces the shaft through an even multiple of its differential positions. correspondingly, item wheels 83 will-have moved through the same number of their differential positions.

For example, depression of the 0" key. releases common-detent I04 from shaft 19 and moves 0 lever I6 to place its nose end I6 in the path of the 0 tooth I8. AtfO position of the parts, 0 tooth I8 is below 0 nose end 16' so that shaft I9 makes almost a full revolution before the 0 tooth engages the coacting nose end I6. Then during rise of the 0" key, the 0 nose end I6 is withdrawn from the 0" tooth 18 and common detent I04 moves between a pairof teeth I08 of disk I02. Shaft I9 now rotates an additional amount until arrested by engagement of a tooth I03 with detent I04. The total movement of the shaft will be through one complete revolution at the endof which the "0 stop finger I8 will again be in the position from which it started. Correspondingly, item wheels 83 meshed with drum 8I will have moved through one revolution from 0 position to 0" position.

If with the parts in 0 position, the 1' key key is depressed, then 1" lever I6 will be moved forward and common detent I04 released from restraint on shaft I9. Shaft I3 will first rotate until the 1 finger 18 engages 1 nose. end I5;

then on the upstroke of the key. the shaft will be'released for a further, slight, movement until arrested by detent I04. Similarly, depression of the other keys will cause movement of the shaft from (0" position through the number of posi-' tions indicated by the depressed key.

The reason for effecting part of the movement of the shaft upon the down stroke and the ree mainder of the movement upon the up stroke of the key is to correctly time the release and arrest of shaft I9 by the oppositely moving nose end I6 and detent I04 and to provide clearance between detent I04 and teeth I03 when the de tent returns to restraining position.

If the shaft I9 were to move the complete differential distance upon the down stroke of the key, at the end of this movement, a tooth I03 would be exactly in line with detent I04. Then when the active nose end I8 released the stop finger engaged therewith, shaft I9 mightrotate slightly before detent I04 could move above the 'alined stop surface of the tooth I08 in front of the detent. As a result, the detent would fail to engage the proper tooth I08 and shaft I9 would move an additional step. Further, if during return of the detent end I04, it were exactly in line with a tooth I03, then it might strike the edge of the tooth and be unable to move above the tooth. By moving shaft I9 through less than its full differential distance upon the down stroke of the key, detent I04 can move with complete clearness above the surface of the tooth I03 below it and the remainder of the differential movement can be conveniently effected to bring the tooth and detent into engagement.

When shaft I9 and item wheels 63 on drum 0| have been moved by depression of a key 15. to a differential position other than 0", the following key depression will not cause movement of the shaft and item wheels through the same number of steps as represented by the number on the latter key, but through such a number of steps as will bring the shaft and wheels to the differential position corresponding to the depressed ,key. For example, if shaft I9 is in 1 position, its 1" stop finger 18 will be at the point initially occupied by the 0" finger. Now, if a 1 key I5 is depressed, shaft I9 will make a full rotation, in the same manner as described above in connection with the 0 setting, and under the successive control of the 1" nose end I6 and the common detent I04 the shaft will again be in 1 position.

If the shaft is m "1" position and a key I5is operated, then the shaft will move one step before it 'is completely arrested and the 2" of a key I5 will cause the shaft to move through the number of steps required to bring it to the position represented by the depressed key. Correspondingly, those item wheels 83 stillmeshed with drum 8I 'will move from any differential position they occupy to the new position represented by the key last depressed. For example, if a wheel 83 on drum 8I reads 4 and the 6" key I5 is depressed, this wheel 83 will move two differential steps to read 6.

I l l As explained above depression of a key diflerentially sets all the wheels 33 meshing with drum 3| to the common position represented by the key. Thus, initially, all nine wheels are on the drum and operation of key -4, for example, will set the nine wheels similarly, each to a "6 position.

In addition to setting wheels 33, operation of any of keys 15 controls an escapement mechanism to effect rotation of screw shaft 33 to an extent such as to movecarriage 33 and wheels 33 one step to the left, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, thereby removing one wheel 33 from drum 3i and meshing this wheel with the right hand end slide I0c.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 10, the escapement-controlled means for rotating screw shaft 33 comprises gear sector I pivoted on stud I2I carried by frame plate 31. A spring I22 connected to sector I20 urges it clockwise (Fig. 10)- to rotate gear train I23, I24, I23 and I23. Gear I26 meshes with a pinion I21 fixed to screw shaft 39. Also meshed with gear I23 is a pinion I23 (Figs. 1,2, and 10) freely, rotatably, carried by shaft 13. Rigid with pinion I23 are two teeth I29 and I30 spaced apart along shaft 13 and having their radial, stop surfaces extending along the same diametral line and 180 apart.

Stop tooth I23 is normally in engagement with the nose end of a detent arm I3I rotatably carried by the left end of shaft 11 (see Fig. 1).

Adjacent arm l3l, shaft 11 has rigidly fastened ,to it another detent arm I32 located in the plane of tooth I30. The nose end of arm I32 is initially in front of, slightly below, and remote from stop tooth I30. A lug I33 on arm I32 is held engaged with a stud I34 on arm I3I by a spring I35 connected to the stud I34 and to the frame.

Referring to Fig. 4, when a key 15 is depressed to set wheels 33, it rocks the connected lever 13 which in turn rocks common bail I01 clock Underlying the left side of bail I01 (aswise. viewed in Fig, 2) is the'transversely bent lug I33 formed at the free end of an arm I33 pinned to shaft 11. Thus, when bail I01 rocks clockwise due to depression of a. key, arm I33 and its shaft 11 are rocked similarly. Since detent arm I32 is pinnedto shaft 11, it will also be moved clockwise (Fig. 10) to a position directly underlying stop tooth I30 and in the path of counterclockwise rotation of the latter tooth. At the same time, as arm I32 moves to the right,

its lug I33 acts on stud I34 of arm I3I to move the latter, against the pull of spring I35, in the same direction, thereby displacing the nose end of arm I3I from engagement with stop tooth I23.

The gear train comprising elements I20, I23, I24, I25, I23, I21 and I23 is now free to be rotated by the power of spring I22. Pinion I23 rotates a slight distance anticlockwise bringing its tooth I23 above and clear of the nose end of detent arm I3I and its tooth I30 into en gagement with the top of detent arm I32. During this rotation of pinion I23, gear I23 rotates pinion I21 and its shaft 33 through a small angle, causing movement of the item wheels 33 on drum 3I slightly to the left (Figs. 1 and 2), but not to such an extent as to demesh the left hand one of the latter wheels from the drum.

The above, initial, escape action of the wheels 33 is the result of depression of a key 15. As previously explained, the depression of a key 15 also causes an initial setting operation to partially set the wheels 33 on the drum to the reading represented by the depressed key. During the up stroke of 'a key, wheels 33 are given the final portion of the setting operation to complete their setting to the differential position selected by the key. Also, during the upward, return, stroke of the key, the escapement means operates to effect a supplementary rotation of shaft 33 to complete the lateral step of movement of carriage 33 and wheels 33. The completion of the setting of wheels 33 overlaps the early portion of the supplementary escape movement of carriage 33 and takes place before the left hand wheel 33 meshed with" drum 3| has left the drum. In brief, the relation of the parts and their timing are such that upon the down stroke of a key, all but a minor portion of the setting movement of the item wheels is carried out while only a slight portion of the escape step is effected, and upon the up stroke of the key, the slight, fractional, remainder of the wheel setting is completed and the major portion of the escape step takes place.

During the rise of the key, bail I01 moves I32 issimilarly moved to the left, thereby withdrawing its nose end from engagement with tooth I30. This leaves pinion I23 free to rotate counterclockwise under the influence of spring I22,

until tooth I23 engages the nose of arm I3I. The parts of the escape means are then in initial position, shown in Fig. 10 and pinion I23 has completed a revolution. As a result of the supplementary, final, escape movement, gear I23 has rotated screw shaft 39 to complete the lateral step of movement of carriage 33, and to thereby entirely remove from drum 3|, the left hand one of the group of wheels 33 meshed with the drum at the beginning of the last key operation.

In above manner, each time a key is operated, it causes all those wheels 33 which are still meshed with drum 3! to be difierentially and commonly set to the position represented by the key and also causes escapement mechanism to shift the wheels laterally to move the left hand one of those wheels off the drum and onto the first units order, slide I0c. In nine key operations, wheels 33 will be successively displaced to the left until they are all removed from 3| and in mesh with the nine slides I0a, t, and 0. Similarly, one to eight key operations will move the same number of wheels 33 of! drum 3i and onto the same number of slides III.

The reason for effecting the escapement movement in two parts and under control of two detents is because the length of time during which the operator holds a key depressed is indeterminate. It only'one detent and escapement tooth were provided, there would be no assurance that the detent after release by the depression of the key would be restored in time to arrest the tooth when it had made one revolution. By utilizing the two detents I3I and I32, at least one is always in position to engage the coacting tooth I29 or I30 and regardless of the length of time during which a key is held down, the escapement mechanism will move only one full step for each reciprocation of a key.

As an example of the setting and escape opera- 2,150,318 r a i 5 tions, assume the price of an article is 8.50, the kindof sale is charge sen represented by code number 4, and that the clerks number is 11.

'lnitially shaft 19 is in 0" position and the nine wheels 83 are on drum 8|. The operator first depresses key -8, causing release of detent end I84 of lever I84 from disk I82. Shaft 18 moves almost eight differential steps from its "0 position until arrested by engagement of stop finger 18-8 with the nose end -of the vertical arm of lever IE-8, and drum 8| and the nine wheels 83 move synchronously with shaft 18. Depression of key 15-8 also caused release of detent |3| from tooth I28 of pinion I28, and simultaneously caused movement of detent I32 into the path of movement of tooth I38 of the pinion. Spring I22 acts, upon release of pinion I28, to rotate the latter a slight amount until tooth I38 engages detent I32. This initial rotation of pinion I28 is accompanied by corresponding rotational move-' ments of gear I28 and pinion I21. Shaft 88 of the latter pinion coacts with carriage 88 to shift the latter and the nine wheels 83 slightly to the left.

When the operator releases key 15-8, lever 16-8 rocks counterclockwise (Fig. 4), withdrawing its nose end from stop finger 18-8; simultaneously spring I85 moves detent'end I84 above a tooth I83 of disk I82. *Shaft 18 rotates a slight amount, completing its eight step'movement from 0 position, and is then arrested by engagement of the detent and I84 with the tooth I83. During the latter rotation of shaft 19, the nine'wheels 1 83 on drum 8| are correspondingly rotated and now set to read 8.

During rise of key 15-8, detent I32 is displaced from tooth I38 of pinion I28, and detent I3| is interposed in the path of rotation of tooth I29 of this pinion. Spring I22 acts now to rotate pinion I28 through the greater part of a revolution until tooth I28 engages detent I3I, and the pinion is thus arrested in initial position. During the latter rotation of pinion I28, gear I26 rotates pinion I21 and its shaft 88 to shift carriage 88 and wheels 83 to the left for the major part of their escapement step. The differential'setting of wheels 83 to their "8 positions is completed during the first part of this latter escape step, and then as the escapement continues, the first wheel 83 from the left .(Figs. 1 and 2) moves off drum 8| and onto unit slide IIIc. At the end of the escapement step, this first wheel 83 reads 8. The other eight wheels are still on the drum. The clerk now depresses key 15-5; shaft 19 rotates from its 8 setting an amount just short of seven steps before being arrested by engagement of stop finger 18-5 with lever 18-5. Upon ,the up stroke of the key, shaft 19 covers the remaining distance to its 5 position where it is arrested by detent I84".

The eight wheels which at the beginning of the operation of key 15-5 were on drum 8| are set now at 5. The reciprocation of the key effected escape of the carriage 88, bringing the left hand one of the latter eight wheels off drum 8| and onto unit slide Me. The left hand one of all nine wheels 83 had been set during the first key operation to 8 and demeshed from drum 8| so that it was not affected by the rotation of drum 8| which took place upon the second key' operation and remains at 8. The second escape operation of carriage 88 movesthe latter wheel 83 onto the tens order slide I8c which is the second At the end of the six required key operations, the first wheel from the left will read 8, and'be in mesh with units dollar orderslide lie; the next wheel will read 5 and mesh with dimes order slide I811, the third wheel will read 0 and mesh with the cents slide 18a, the fourth wheel will stand at 4 and mesh with transaction slide I8t, and the The last three wheels 83 will remain on drum 8|, each wheel reading-. 1 as a result of the last 1 key setting. Also, the last three higher order slides I8a, namely, the thousands, hundreds, and tens of dollar orders slides will be out of mesh with any of wheels 83. The abutment 98 provided on carriage 88 will be in front of these last three slides I8a, as has been explained beforel During the cycle of shaft 38, which is initiated by the operator subsequent to the setting opera-v tions, the item Wheels 83 remaining on drum 8| are set to 0. For this purpose, a gear I36 at the right end of cam shaft 39'- (as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3) carries at one side a cam piece I31 (see also Fig. 9). During the initial portion of revolution of shaft 39, cam piece I31 rides past the free, 7

end of an arm I38 fixed to one end of a shaft I39, and thereby rocks shaft I39 clockwise (Fig.

9). The opposite end of shaft I38 has 'fast to it an upright arm I48 connected by a link |4| to an 7 arm I42 loosely mounted on shaft 11 (see Figs. 4 and 11) Arm I42 is in the same vertical plane as a special zero stop finger 18'-8 secured to shaft 18 at the left of the ten-key controlled fingers 18 and disposed in the same relation to arm' |42'as that of the key-controlled "0 finger 18 to nose end 18' of 0 lever 18. Arm I42 has a lug I43 held engaged with pin I44 on detent arm I84 by spring I85.

When cam lug I31 rocks shaft I39 clockwise,

the shaft, through arm I48 and link |4|,-rocks arm I42 in the same direction. Arm I42, through coaction of lug I43 and stud I44, displaces detent I84 from the teeth I83 of disk I82, permitting spring 98 (Fig. '1) to rotate gear drum 8| and the item wheels 83 thereon untfl special 8 finger 18'-8 abuts the nose end of arm I42.

Cam piece I31 holds arm I38 depressed long enough for shaft 18 to make substantially one revolution. when the cam lug rides off the end of arm I38, then spring I85 restores detent arm I84 which'in turn restores arm I42. Arm I42 thereupon releases finger 18' andshaft 18 completes its movement to "0 position, where it is,-

stopped by detent I84 engag ng a tooth I83 of disk I82. Shaft 18, drum 8|, and the item wheels 83 on the drum are now at' "8 positions.

Subsequent to the above described setting of the wheels on drum 8| to.0, the spring. actuator 88 of drum 8| is retensioned. This is done by a cam I48 (see Figs. 1,3. and '1) fast to cam shaft 38. During the revolution of shaft 38, cam I acts on roller I48 of gear sector 88 to rock the sector counterclockwise, thereby retensioning spring 88. As sector 88 moves, counterclockwise through gears 83 and 84, it rotates pinion 82 and its shaft 82 in the same direction. During'the counterclockwise revolutions of shaft 82 arm 98 on the shaft rides over pawl 188 without restraint due to yielding of spring I88. Any tendency of drum ll to rotate counterclockwise during such movement of shaft 32 is effectively prevented for the following reasons:

Counterclockwise motion of drum lI would rotate shaft ll clockwise (Fig. 7) and the latter movement would be eflectively stopped by engagement of the top of detent end Ill with the tooth Ill directly above it (see Fig. 11) before shaft I8 could move one differential step. Further, if any item wheels ll are still on drum 8|,

they are at zero positions and would also prevent tendency of the drum to rotate counterclockwise. This is because each wheel II has a home or zero position dog Ill (see Fig. 8a) which when the wheel is in zero position, is engaged with a flat shoulder Ill formed along shaft 85 of the wheels (see also Fig. 1).

For drum II to rotate counterclockwise requires clockwise movement of the wheels 83 on the drum, which are now at "0.position and cannot move clockwise because of dogs I ll abutting shoulder I43 of shaft ll. As a result, drum ll cannot move counterclockwise. Nor can the drum move clockwise, unless released by disengagement of detent Ill from teeth Ill of disk Il2, which occurs only under control of keys 15 or cam I31.

Drum ll has three times as many teeth as an item wheel l3 and when the latter is in 0" position, pawl Ill on the drum'may be in either of three "II" positions, the one shown in Fig. 7, and two others successively located one-third of a revolution apart. When restoring cam I leaves roller Ill, arm ll is in the position shown in Fig. 7. If pawl Ill is also in this position, then the pawl prevents clockwise rotation of arm 88. If pawl Ill is in either of the two successive positions further on in a clockwise direction, then spring 88 moves arm ll clockwise 120 or 240 until it engages pawl Ill. The parts Ill and 83 are now in required relation for effecting clockwise rotation of drum ll during the next series of key-setting operations. The maximum possible number of rotations of item wheels I! to be imparted by drum II is nine. The ratio of gearing and the extent of movement of sector ll are such as to be capable of rotating drum 8| through three and two thirds revolutions, providing therefore a surplus of two-thirds revolutions. Accordingly, even if after restoration of arm 88, it has moved ahead under the force of spring 98 through two-thirds ofa revolution, its remaining capacity for effecting three more revolutions of drum ll is sumcient to furnish the maximum of nine revolutions of the nine item wheels 83.

Those item wheels 83 which have moved ofl drum 8| and into mesh with punch slides Ila, t, and c control the setting of the slides to positions corresponding to the settings of the item wheels. This is done as follows: Referring to Fig. 6, slides Ila, t, and c are connected to arms 68 pivoted on a rod ll and urged by individual springs 62 towards the left to move the con- .nected slides in the same direction. This movement is normally prevented by cross bar 83 engaging the front of arms ll. Bar 63 is fastened to arms ll and ll (also see Fig. 3) pivoted on rod lI. Arm ll is pivotally connected to one end of a bar ll, forked at the other end to slidably embrace shaft 39. On bar 5 is a. roller 65' engaged with a cam 86 on cam shaft 39. When the cross bar is permitted by cam 86 to move to the left, then springs 82 act on arms ll to move them in the same direction. The arms in turn move slides Ila, Ilt, and I 00 towards the left and through coaction of teeth 41 on these slides with the teeth of wheels 83 meshed with the slides, the wheels are rotated clockwise. The extent of this rotation is determined by engagement of the zero position dogs Ill of the wheels with shoulder I48 of shaft 35 (see Fig. 6a). Slides Ila, t, and c thus move differential distances to the left until arrested by the zeroizing of the item wheels 83 meshed with the slides; and ass. result, their punch pins II are positioned to perforate card T according to the items set up by keys 1!. Any of slides Ila which have not been meshed with wheels 83 by the key operations, as when the amount 8.50 is set up, 'are arrested before they move out of their 0 positions by the carriage abutment 80 which is located in front of these slides.

Also meshed with teeth 41 of slides Ila, t, and c are pinions Ill carried by the right hand ends of nested shafts I5I (as viewed in Figs. 1 and 12) the opposite ends of which carry type wheels 43a, t, and c. Thus, when slides Ila, t, and c advance to differential positions under control of wheels 83, the slides rotate pinions III to set type wheels 43a, t, and c to print the items set up by keys II.

Those higher order slides Ila (at the left in Fig; 1) which have not been set under control of wheels 83 but have been retained in "0" tions by abutment 80 do not rotate their pinions Ill and therefore the corresponding higher order type wheels 43a also remain in zero positions. The highest order wheel "a has no "0 type lug since it is not necessary to print "0 in the highest order of the amount while the remaining wheels 43a have "0 type to print "0" in mintermediate order of the amount item.

Subsequent to the setting of slides Ila, t, and c to difl'erential positions, alining bar 38 moves into notches 31 of the slides to exactly aline the slides, and the type wheels geared thereto, in their various differential positions. Alining bar 36 is carried between the sides of a bail 34 freely pivoted on a rod 35 mounted between frame plates "and I8 (see Figs. 1, 5, and 6). The sidespf the bail have pin and slot connections to arms 32' and 32a fast to a shaft 33. Arm 32a is part of a three-armed lever, arms 32b and 320 of which coact respectively with cams 38 and ll of shaft 38. Cam 38, during the revolution of shaft 39, rocks lever 32a-bc, its shaft 33, and arm 32 thereof clockwise (Fig. 5) to eifect downward movement of bail 34- and alining bar 38. This takes place after the slides Ila, t,- and e have been set under control of item indicating wheels 83. Cam 38 coacts with arms 320 to restore the bail andv alining bar 38 after the punching operation.

-When slides Ila, t, and e have been set under control of wheels 83, the latter are at zero positions, and may be returned to drum lI. To restore these wheels to the drum, carriage 88 must be moved to the right (Fig. 1) by rotation of threaded shaft 89 n a clockwise direction (Fig. 10). This is done by a cam I58 on shaft 33 (see Figs. 1,3, and 10). During the cycle of shaft 39, cam I58 engages follower roller I59 on gear sector I 20 to rock the latter counterclockwise (Fig. 10). In sodoing, "spring I22 of the escapement mechanism is retensioned. As gear sector I28 moves counterclockwise, it causes clockwise movement of pinions I21 and I28. Clockwise rotation of pinion I28 is not prevented by detent arm I ll, since escapement tooth I29 handle 25L merely cams the nose on this arm outwardly, as permitted by yielding of spring I88.

Clockwise rotation of pinion I8'l moves its shaft 88 in the same direction. This rotation of shaft 88, through coaction of its threaded portion with carriage 88, moves the carriage and all nine wheels 88 mounted between the sides of the carriage towards the right (Fig. 1). At the end of this movement, the nine wheels 88 are entirely demeshed from slides Illa, t, and c and again meshed with drum 8I in their initial positions.

Duringretum of the wheels 88 to driun 8|, it is desirable to relieve the pressure between shoulder I48 of shaft 85 and the dogs I48 of the wheels. Further, the teeth of the wheels may not be in perfect alinement with the teeth ofdrum 8I and if dogs I48 were ilrmly engaged with shoulder I48 of shaft 88, the wheels would be unable to rotate slightly so as to bring their teeth into line with the teeth of drum 8| and as a result, the

wheels would be unable to return to the drum.

The left ends of the teeth of drum 8I are rounded to facilitate meshing of wheels 88 therewith when the wheels slide back onto the drum. If the wheels are free to rotate, then if their teeth are not exactly alined with the drum teeth, the rounded ends of the latter teeth cam against the teeth of wheels 83 to rotate the wheels slightly until'their teeth are .in alinement. To permit this alining rotation of wheels 88 and to relieve the pressure between dogs I48 and shoulder I48, shaft 85 is rocked clockwise (Fig. 4) under control of a cam I88 (Figs. 1, 3 and 4-) on shaft 88. The cam is engaged by a roller I8I at the right end of a link I88 slidably guided at said end by shaft 88 and connected at the opposite end to a crank arm I83 depending from shaft 88.

The high dwellportion of cam I88 rides off roller IIiI after slides I8 have been locked 'in place by alining bar 88. A spring I84 thereupon moves link I88 to the left (Fig. 4) rocking arm I83 and shaft 85 clockwise. As a result, shoulder I48 of shaft 85 is. moved away from zero pawls I48 of wheels 88 (see Fig. 6a) thereby preventing binding betweenthe wheels 88 shaft [8, and drum 8I while the wheels are being returned into mesh with the drum. At the beginning of the next cycle of shaft 88, cam I88 positively restores shaft 85 and'shoulder I48 to their normal positions. As shown in Figs. 3 and 9, gear I88 of shaft 38 is meshed with a gear.858 operated by a crank Two turns of the handle are ef fected by the operator to eflect a one-revolution cycle of shaft 88. Rotation of shaft 88 is permitted only counterclockwise (Fig. 9), reverse rotation being prevented by a pawl 888, of spring metal, engaging .gear I88. Normally, shaft 88'- is locked against operation until a card T is insorted in punching position, indicated in Fig. 1. when the card is thus its leading ledge engages a plate 888 (Figs. 3 and 8) and rocks the latter rearwardly against resistance ofa spring 834. Yieldably held toplate 888 by a spring 844'and movable with the plate 888 is a second plate 8. The rearward movement of plate 888, therefore, effectscorresponding movement of plate 84I, withdrawing a block 848 on the latter plate fromin front of edge. 841 of a cam 848 fast to shaft 88. The latter may now be rotated by operation of handle :8II. After the punching operation, edge 841 of earn. 848 rocks a lever 888 downwardly against resistance of j spring to plates-.888 and 8, and upon depression of the 848. Lever 888 is pivotally connected ,to 'abut edge 841 of cam 848 to stop shaft 88 at the end of its revolution.

While there has been shown, described, and pointed out the fundamental features of the invention as applied to a single modification, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form, details, or operation of thefdevice illustrated may be made by'those skilled in the art without departing.

from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination; a group of toothed item 3 wheels, each independently movable and each having differential positions corresponding to different values, a wide actuating toothed drum meshed with the group of wheels, means for actuating the drum, a series of value keys, and control connections between said keys and said drum eflective upon operation of a key for causing the actuating means to actuate the drum differen common differential positionfcorresponding to the value selected by the operated key, escapement mechanism operating upon each operation of akey for moving one of said wheels out of caution with said drums while the remaining wheels stay on the drum and retain their com mon differential position, said controlconnections being effective upon' the next operationof a key to cause the. actuating means to actuate said drum to move said remaining wheels from their last common differential position to anew'common differential position correspondingto the value selected by the latter key.

2. In combination; a differentially rotatable wheel having differential positions corresponding to different digital values, a shaft on which the wheel is rotatably mounted, a shoulder on the shaft, 8. zero element on the wheel engaging said shoulder when the wheel is in' zero position, actuating means for the wheel including a device coacting with the wheel for differentially rotatthe keys and the device for causing the latter tially to move the entire group of wheelsto a I 5 upon operation of a key to differentially move the wheel in accordance with the value selected by the operated key, escapement mechanism for moving the wheel out of coaction with said device after the wheel has-been differentially set by v -the device, value manifesting means, means for. "transmitting the value represented by the sitiom'of the wheel to said value manifesting means by rotating the wheel until its zero element the aforesaid shoulder, means effective after thegtransmission of said value for causing said out mechanism to restore said wheel to coaotion'with said device, and means operable priorto the latter action of the escapement mechanism for separating said shoul- .der andsaid zero element of the wheel from each other to relieve the pressure of the shoulder on 70 said element during of the wheel into coaction with said device.

FREDERICK L. FULLER. GEORGE F. DALY.

the subsequent restoration 

